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Resources Bill Opens New Front In Long-Running Water Wars

Observers of California’s longtime water wars expect language inserted into a major water bill last week to exacerbate the ongoing competition between fish and farms for scarce supplies.

OPINION: Don’t Mess With Washington Water and Fish, California

Are we going to decide to kill fish tonight? It was a question Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell brought to the Senate floor last Friday as she implored colleagues to vote no on a controversial water bill that would increase water flow to San Joaquin farmers and away from fish habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. And if they start messing with water flows in northern California, what’s to stop them from doing it in Washington?

KPBS Drought Tracker Update: Warm Temps Keeping Snowpack Thin

Thursday night’s forecast shows rain coming into San Diego County. Up to an inch of rain is expected in some coastal areas, and more is predicted to fall in the mountains. An update from the newly relaunched KPBS Drought Tracker shows the storm coming in the midst of a wet season that has so far brought California increased rain — but paltry snow — compared to previous drought years. Since the state’s wet season officially began on Oct. 1, California has seen a bit more rain than in many previous drought years.

Storm Drenches Sacramento, North State, Puts A Dent In Drought

Another rainstorm pounded much of the state Thursday, causing minor havoc in some areas but putting another dent in California’s five-year drought.The storm was expected to continue into Friday, bringing rain in low-lying areas and snow to the Sierra Nevada. Rain gauges and reservoirs were filling up as California continued to experience one of the strongest starts to the rain season in years. Fresh data showed California is making progress against the drought.

December Deluge Delivers Even More Rain and Mess Than Promised

The drying out starts … now. The storm that swamped the Bay Area and prompted flash flood warnings, inundated roads and triggered rock and mud slides from Sonoma County into Monterey County has moved south. After a few showers late Thursday and early Friday, the region is in for what appears to be at least a week of non-rain.

Major Storms Barrel Into California: ‘Every Field Is A Big Lake’

The drought-plagued state was slammed with rainstorms Thursday night, with Northern California hit particularly hard. In Southern California, rains started moving in Thursday afternoon. The storm is expected to drop 1 to 3 inches of rain by Friday morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard said. The weather service issued a flash flood watch for the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains and foothill communities in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys.

 

Large Regions of U.S. Damaged By Drought In 2016

Droughts sparked deadly wildfires, killed tens of millions of trees and damaged crops and livestock in large regions of the U.S. in 2016. Major regional droughts hit the U.S. this year in the Southeast, California and New England—and all developed differently.

Donald Trump Was Right: Tiny Fish Can Cause Big Water Supply Problems

That’s not Police Chief Martin Brody of Amity Islands from the 1975 movie Jaws. Wrong coast. Wrong century. Curt Schmutte, a consultant to the Metropolitan Municipal Water District of Southern California, recently saw a shark warning on a sign at a bait shop along the Sacramento River – easily a good 30 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Wait. What? “If the governor builds those tunnels,” the bait shop cashier explained to Curt, “we’ll have great white sharks in the Delta.” OK. Rewind.

 

Capitol Journal Everyone Is At Odds Over Gov. Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan — Here’s A Compromise That Could Stop The Fighting

When enemies are in face-to-face combat, they’re often blind to an obvious path to potential compromise.That’s certainly true of water warriors, who have been battling over California’s most valuable and limited resource since statehood. Fights don’t get any more ferocious than over water in this state. Agriculture just won a major battle over environmentalists in Congress because of an alliance between House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). But still raging in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is a decades-long struggle that will affect 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland.

Everyone Is At Odds Over Gov. Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan — Here’s A Compromise That Could Stop The Fighting

When enemies are in face-to-face combat, they’re often blind to an obvious path to potential compromise. That’s certainly true of water warriors, who have been battling over California’s most valuable and limited resource since statehood. Fights don’t get any more ferocious than over water in this state. Agriculture just won a major battle over environmentalists in Congress because of an alliance between House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).